While rainfall were modest in the city, totaling 0.21″ at O’Hare and 0.42″ at Midway, rainfalls were heavier farther south.

2.40″ fell at Valparaiso—while 1.95″ came down at Kouts, 1.65″ at Hebron, 1.63″ at Chesterton, 1.59″ at Roselawn and 1.60″ at Dyer—all in Indiana. Other Indiana totals included 0.95″ at Crown Point, 0.91″ at Munster, 0.89″ at Portage and 0.85″ at Ogden Dunes—again ALL in Indiana.

At the same time, Grant Park in Kankakee county recorded 1.67″ while 0.80″ was recorded at Chicago Heights, 0.79″ at South Holland, 0.66″ Elmhurst and 0.59″ at Oak Brook. AMOUNTS TAPERED OFF dramatically farther north with only 0.07″ recorded at Woodstock, 0.03″ at Vernon Hills and just 0.02″ at Libertyville.

Here Come The Strong Winds

WINDS gusted above 40 mph in the Plains and western Midwest Thursday afternoon where temps have dropped into the 50s and 40s. The 30+ mph gusts are to sweep into the Chicago area Friday and Saturday along with the COOLEST WEATHER HERE in the 5 months since early May—with daytime 50s and nighttime 40s (and even some upper 30s are expected inland) in the night ahead and through this weekend.

2023 On track to be the planet’s warmest year on record

The news from Copernicus climate scientists in Europe comes after a summer which was the hottest over the term of instrument records dating back to the late 1800s—and a September which Axios’ widely regarded environmental reporter Andrew Freedman summarizes as follows:

“September featured numerous extreme weather events, including heat waves in Europe, devastating and deadly flooding in Greece and Libya from an unusually powerful Mediterranean storm system, record heat in Japan and continued anomalously large wildfires in Canada. In the U.S., the month ended with a record-breaking deluge on New York City and surrounding areas, bringing parts of the region to a halt.”

Daily Surface Air Temperature

Global daily surface air temperature (°C) from 1 January 1940 to 30 September 2023, plotted as time series for each year. 2023 and 2016 are shown with thick lines shaded in bright red and dark red, respectively. Other years are shown with thin lines and shaded according to the decade, from blue (1940s) to brick red (2020s). The dotted line and grey envelope represent the 1.5°C threshold above preindustrial level (1850–1900) and its uncertainty. Data source: ERA5. Credit: Copernicus Climate Change Service/ECMWF.

The chart below shows the Globally averaged surface air temperature anomalies relative to 1991–2020 for each September from 1940 to 2023. Data source: ERA5. Credit: Copernicus Climate Change Service/ECMWF

READ THE FULL REUTERS STORY ON 2023’s MARCH TOWARD THE WARMEST ON THE BOOKS HERE: https://www.reuters.com/…/2023-track-become-another…/